Air Force v. Air National Guard or the Thrilla in Manila

DefenseOne’s military blog has an interesting story about the tension in the skies above the Fruited Plain. So what is the fight about? What are all fights about on the federal level. Money.

Yes. It is what the makes the world go ’round and what drives the Pentagon to do at times, silly things. See below.

The Air Force submitted an FY13 budget under which the active duty force absorbed only 17 percent of the unit cuts, even though 67 percent of Air Force personnel are on active duty. Congress reacted furiously, forced a compromise, and created a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to report back before any further decisions are made.

The issue is this: money is getting tight. Congress and the White House want to shrink the DOD’s budget and the Air Force wanted a large portion of the cuts to come from unites like the 182nd Airlift Wing, an Air National Guard unit. To be fair ,the 182nd wasn’t going to be adversely affected this go-around but it’s a good example for the local area.

Why are they doing this, given that Congress members love the National Guard and Governors at time view it as their own army. The National Guard grew out of the old state militias and let’s face it, it’s terrible politics for a governor or a congressman to agree to hack the National Guard when that’s affecting his people at home. But whacking away at the active duty, that’s easier for most as many states don’t have an active duty air base. See. Happiness in a box.

What does this mean for the 182nd? Well, BRAC, the every-s0-often base closing is off the table this year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to come back. Nor does it mean the 182nd is completely safe in the long term. Whether the Active Duty likes it or not, the National Guard and the Reserves are a vital part of the national defense. Post-Vietnam, there has been conscious choice to shift many things over to the reserve component as it’s cheaper and in some ways, politically safer (see above).

I am not saying at all that active duty airmen don’t appreciate the Guard. The past decade has proven their worth. Yet, I do know that active duty was looking for similar cuts on both sides. It’s an interesting debate. And one that I confess I am not completely in the know about. I just care about our local Hercs. What is the answer? For right now, status quo. In the future as money gets tighter and costs for the F-22, F-35, and other big ticket items go up, who knows. Manned Fighters are shrinking in the inventory. What does this mean for the active component which likes to have fighter jocks. Dunno.

Author: Andy Kravetz

Andy Kravetz has spent most of the past 16 years covering the area's legal system as well as the military. in that time, he's crawled in the mud, flown in transport planes, and written about a man prosecuted for terrorism. This blog will reflect all those interests and then some.
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